The Story of the Lake
by TheStupidSheep
Summary: Mikasa Jaeger works on a public library. At the last hours of the day, a mysterious man comes, sits at the farthest table of the reading area and looks at the lake across the street from the library, always without picking any book. Curious, Mikasa tries to find out what brings him everyday to the same place and at the same hour, forgetting in the process her own demons. /RIVAMIKA
1. Chapter 1

**The Story of the Lake, by TheStupidSheep**

 **x**

 _ **I don't own Attack on Titan. I just wanted to fangirl for a second.**_

* * *

 _Mikasa Jaeger works on a public library. At the last hours of the day, a mysterious man comes, sits at the farthest table of the reading area and looks at the lake across the street from the library, always without picking any book. Curious, Mikasa tries to find out what brings him everyday to the same place and at the same hour, forgetting in the process her own demons._

* * *

 _I have to close._

She has to close.

Time has passed as fast as the wind, but Mikasa doesn't want to close. She doesn't want to _go_.

 _Go, where?_

As always, the thought of going "home" feels as excited as going anywhere. Living alone, _being alone_ , is something she's always feared.

 _I have to close the library._

She sighs, turning off the computer. Stands up, puts her red scarf and starts saving her stuff in her backpack, looking around the place to make sure there isn't anybody.

The public library has a reading area with wide windows. A lake is seen from then. Today, a full moon is reflected on the water, making an aesthetic image that always takes out everybody's breath in the town, but not Mikasa's.

There is a man sitting in the last table. He is drinking a tea, he is _not_ reading. She's never seen that man in the library before.

He grabs the cup in a weird way.

Frowning, Mikasa takes up her backpack and walks towards him, passing her fingers through her short black hair to see better what's in front of her.

The man doesn't pay attention when she sits in the same table. The keys of the public library jingle in her hand, saying hi for her.

"I'm closing, sir."

The man still doesn't look at her. His eyes are stuck in the lake outside, his long eyelashes trembling with the little movements of his eyeballs.

 _Long… eyelashes?_

"Give me five minutes" he says, drinking his tea without turning.

Mikasa raises a brow and sees the time. She should've closed forty minutes ago, but forty minutes ago she didn't want to go home, where the loneliness was waiting for her.

Now, she is noticing the muscles of his arms and how his chest goes up and down with the breathing in a very slowly, slowly and peaceful way.

She blinks and stands up.

"You're not reading anything."

"I'm not. You care?"

"Actually, no."

"Disappointing."

Mikasa crosses her arms.

"Disappointing?"

"To work in a public library, you should encourage people to read, but you're here, telling me you don't care if I'm reading or not in a library that was supposed to be closed thirty minutes ago. Disappointing."

His voices is deep, a calm sound that makes her feel more irritated.

 _Wait. Am I irritated? Why…?_

"What I think is disappointing is that you are waiting for someone to encourage you to read when you are clearly surrounded by books. That's disappointing."

Finally, he turns and looks at her.

"The difference is that I don't live of this."

She doesn't pay attention to what he says.

 _He is handsome… and he also looks dangerous._

The realization of this makes her stand out and grab the keys harder, putting them through her closed fingers, waiting for him to do something harmful to her, to take out a knife and…

"You need to leave now, please."

She takes a step back. The man smiles sideways and puts the cup on the table, standing on his feet. He is shorter than her, but he radiates wisdom, a wisdom that feels overwhelming against her.

While he puts his long jacket and his scarf, she realizes how tired he looks. His movements are slow. However, he doesn't seem to be clumsy, nor doing it on purpose. He is really tired.

 _But he still looks dangerous._

He doesn't notice Mikasa's fear, she thanks. Shakes her head, trying to smile, but she can't. Too ashamed, she lets him pass her as he walks towards the exit door. She was too harsh. Now, the possibility of losing a customer that only wanted a little time of peace exists.

"I'm sorry" she says, trying not to roll her eyes at her own stupidity "I didn't mean to…"

His long jacket waves when he turns around and looks at Mikasa, taking her off guard. His grey eyes catch the lamp's light on the ceiling, and she is able to see the dark circles under them, as if he never sleeps.

"Recommend me one."

She stills.

"What?"

He points with his head to a books pile on a table.

"Recommend me a book."

In her mind, Mikasa's parents were screaming. She smiled.

Five minutes later, she has two books in her hands. A fiction war book and a children's book.

He is leaning on the exit door frame, waiting for her to bring the book. She looks secretly at him, admiring the way he doesn't seem to give a fuck about what happens around him. His shaved temples and sharp jaw help him look like of a man without fear, and that's all what she needs to finally pick up the book for him.

Two minutes after she is closing the library and turning to face him, knowing he haven't gone yet. He is staring at the lake across the street, but his body is fronting her.

She knows he is dangerous. Even with that, she lets a little smile dance in her lips.

When he looks at her, the smile is gone.

Mikasa gives him the book with the cover facing the ground.

"I need your name. I didn't write it on the record."

"Levi Ackerman."

"Levi Ackerman, have fun reading your book."

They walk in opposite directions.

 _Levi Ackerman. His name is Levi Ackerman._

He doesn't watch the cover. He already knows what book is it.

He always has known.

* * *

Hello! First time writing in english, first time writing a Rivamika fic. PLEASE, tell me if a have any mistake. Hope you like it.

 **xx**

 **La que tals.**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Story of the Lake, by TheStupidSheep**

 **x**

 _ **I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin. I just wanted to fangirl for a second.**_

* * *

Four years ago, Mikasa saw her family being murderer in front of her. It was a night filled of loved blood and desperate screams, police officers doing a lot of questions that couldn't reach her brain.

She remembers her father falling downstairs, a knife buried in his abdomen. He was smiling, telling her everything was going to be fine. She remembers her mother, trying so hard to reach him and dying in the process, slaughtered without mercy.

Mikasa remembers Eren, his sad smile when three shots hit his chest. She stayed with him, embracing him in a disturbing silence. Eren never let his eyes scape from her face. She felt the wrath growing in her heart like a destructive wave.

She always wondered why they didn't killed her too. She hoped for it when the amount of blood staining the floor showed her there was no hope for her family. She even hated the moment the murderers heard the sirens in the distance. They left without looking at her for a second, taking all the valuable things she ever had: three loved persons that only wanted to make her life happier than it never was before.

A red, _red_ scarf, was the last thing she received from them.

Mikasa promised herself she was not going to let anyone hurt her again. She was sure, she was fulfilling her promise.

Four months passed. White matter covers everything, but that's not impediment for Mikasa to workout, never has been. She runs over the streets, music hitting her ears as loud as possible.

Today, she was going to work in the library again. Mikasa doesn't know if the man has come or not to the place, university didn't let her do her job, a hell of a schedule she had, so she needed to stop for a while. Thank god, the scholarship she obtained long time ago helped her survive. Now, the expectation was, for some reason, very high.

The lake is now a beautiful ice rink, but she still don't like it. As she runs through the sidewalk, she wonders why she hates that lake so much. The town is little, but her dead adoptive family comes from there. When they died, she looked for the things that kept her closer to them. Of course, she went on vacations to the town with her family before. She used to swim and run with Eren at the edge of the lake with Armin, always winning at the end. As she grow up, she started to let Eren win. He hated losing to a girl all the time and she hated making him feel bad, so she stopped doing an effort.

Then, they never came to the town again, and Mikasa thinks that maybe was because of her fault.

Now that she is alone, Mikasa can't resist but hate it.

 _Such a childish behavior._

Is a simple lake, but she wonders if that is the reason she hates it. She can't blame the mysterious man. The lake is beautiful, encapsulates everybody's eyes with its peaceful waters and colorful trees that surrounds it as shields.

 _But he is very capable to admire it outside the library._

She keeps running, trying not to portray his handsome face on her mind again. She fails.

 _Did… did he read the book?_

* * *

 _"A short man in the last table, you say?"_

 _"Yes. Has he come these months?"_

 _"Emm, no. Is he handsome?"_

 _"He is like… in his thirties, you know?"_

 _"Mmm… no. What's his name? I can look for him in the records"_

 _"He didn't tell me his name."_

 _"He didn't?"_

 _"No. He never picked up a book."_

 _"Uh, that's weird."_

 _"Yes… it is."_

* * *

He is there. The same table, the same hour. The book she gave him is not seen, but the tea cup rests on his right hand. His hair is longer now, she notices. Is tied up at the top of his head, the same shaved temples, and it makes him look even more handsome and enigmatic. He is looking at the lake, unaware of the broken girl that spreads innocent curiosity at the other side of the library.

Mikasa searches for more people in the place and she finds no one. They are alone, just as the last time they saw each other.

"You don't have the book I gave you months ago." Is her greeting. She sits at the same chair, watching the veins of his hands… and the great amount of little, almost unseen scars that cover his skin.

"I finished it."

"Did you like it?"

He looks at her, expressionless.

"Why a children's book?"

She doesn't look at his eyes. For the first time in a _long time_ , she feels her cheeks turn red.

"You seem to be a man of war."

At the corner of her eye, she sees a blackish, raised eyebrow.

"What makes you think that?"

She startles, surprised. She makes herself the same question.

 _How… how did I come to that conclusion?_

"Your eyes" Mikasa murmurs even before thinking it, "they reflect danger… and expertise."

He stays quiet, those same eyes going around her face without concealment. He takes a sip of his tea and turns to the window again.

"I liked the book, thank you."

She almost smiles.

"You have to give it back."

He sighs.

"I know."

"Then, when will you…?"

"I want to keep it." He reaches the pocket of his jacket and gets some bills, throwing them carefully on the table. "I like the edition."

When he says that, Mikasa moves away in the chair.

"You've read it before, haven't you?" She doesn't want to sound angry. Even with that, she is perfectly aware of her jealous tone.

He gives her a side smile.

"It's my favorite book."

Mikasa's eyes get bigger. Levi gets closer, puts his elbows on the table and cover his mouth with the tea. She knows, he is smiling.

* * *

It's snowing. Mikasa walks with the question going back and forth in her mouth.

"Come on, spit it out."

He yawns, tightening himself against his jacket. His white scarf covers half of his pale face, his sharp nose redden with the cold. The night makes him more handsome and for a stupid second, she wants to touch the soft skin of his cheekbone.

Mikasa frowns, looking at the lake across the street.

 _The fucking lake._

"Why didn't you come the past months?" She asks, trying to be casual.

When she turns to see him, his eyes are locked on her. For the first time, he doubts, blinking twice and whirling his head. Then, as if nothing happened, he looks at her again.

"I was working."

"Oh."

 _Yes, he is dangerous._

They reach the corner of the street and stop.

 _It was nice… to see you._

She wants to say that.

 _You don't know him. What is wrong with you?_

"It was nice to see you."

 _He_ says that.

Both look at each other. She is surprised, but he seems to not care.

 _Thank you._

 _"_ It was nice to see you too."

She goes left, he goes straight.

As Mikasa walks home, she discovers.

She wants to see the stranger man again.

* * *

Thank you for the reviews, hope you like this one. I'll share a Playlist with you on my Profile!

 **xx**

 **La que tals.**


	3. Chapter 3

**The Story of the Lake, by TheStupidSheep**

 **x**

 _ **I don't own Attack on Titan. I just wanted to fangirl for a second.**_

* * *

He keeps coming. Mikasa does her job, helping people find the book they want, writing names on the record while she makes sure anybody is talking out loud, organizing the shelves and making sure nobody steals any book. At the end of the day, she walks over the table in which he sits, taking a cup of tea for herself, and shares the silence with him.

He is always watching the lake. His attention is so focused in it that she is able to see the emotions that dance through his face. She admires the way he stays still for such long moments.

Levi Ackerman is taking all her time.

As winter passes, they start talking. Every now and then, he lets out hazy words of wisdom. She then understands, he really likes to read. However, he's sincere when he tells her that is not her favorite thing in the world.

 _What is it, then?_ Mikasa wants to ask, but doesn't feel the right to. She wants to ask a lot of things: Why he likes the lake that much? Why does he always sit in the same table? Why does he come at the same hour? Why does he come to a library if it's not to read? When did he move to the town? What does he do for a living?

She doesn't question him. And at the end of the day, he smiles, negating with his head, and says _"You should've asked me."_

The Lake is the main fun of the town. Kids go with their parents and do ice skating, screaming and laughing. Lovers take pictures together, kissing and hugging each other like there's no tomorrow.

Armin says they should go out with their friends. Instead, Mikasa stays at home, watching horror movies while eating popcorns. When she finishes, she closes her eyes and her mind flies to one person: _Levi Ackerman._

She hates it so much but, without even notice it, she is leaving the corpses of a tragedy in the past, and his calmly voice is doing a path through her chest, staying _inside._

* * *

It is the last day of work for Mikasa this year. Surprisingly, there are a lot of people in the library, buying books and doing requests in the wish lists. They know is the last time the public library is going to be open by what is left of the year.

Also, is not a surprise that Armin is following Mikasa around the place, repeating the same clauses again and again.

"Come on! Don't be boring. Sasha will cook your favorite meal and Jean promised he is going to control himself. You didn't come to Bertolt's party last time and I'm still disappointed because you couldn't see Reiner proposing to him!"

Mikasa puts three books on a shelf and takes out two more that are in the wrong place.

She sighs.

"I have a lot of homework to do. Professors didn't leave me free time this Christmas, blondie."

Armin rolls his eyes.

"Believe me, I will not fall in that one this time."

She turns to face her childhood friend. If she sees further, she'll find Levi's form at the last table, watching the lake.

 _As always._

"Why do you insist in going with me so much?"

"Why shouldn't I?"

Mikasa flushes.

"Because… because…"

She doesn't have a logic reason. She just don't want to act like everything's OK. She senses danger everywhere, the traumatic expectation of a hooded man with a gun at the dark corner, waiting to kill her friends. Since her foster parents died, since _Eren died,_ she feels the urge to stay at home, saving her loved memories inside four walls. Four years… and it feels like days.

The only thing that was left of her family is the red scarf. No properties, no money, nothing. She was not included in her parent's heritage. She never cared that, anyway. She is still thankful, she doesn't want to be in the sight of thieves again. She used to live in a mansion, surrounded by security everywhere she saw. That didn't change her family's destiny, so why care for an inheritance?

"Who is he?"

Mikasa blinks. Armin is looking at Levi. Her face goes blank, her pink lips parting apart.

"He is… a man?"

"Yes" Says Armin in an obvious tone. "And you've been looking at him the whole time."

She shuts her mouth and walks to the next shelf.

"Of course not. I don't even know him."

 _You liar._

"Is he your boyfriend?"

 _"What?!"_

The books she is holding almost fall of her hands.

"Well, Sasha told me you asked for a men like five times when you didn't come to work. She said he was in his thirties and that you didn't want to tell her if he was handsome or not. Wait… he kinds of remind me of…"

She is not paying attention.

 _Sasha… You did not…!_

"He is… he is not my…"

"Boyfriend?"

"No!"

Armin raises both eyebrows and looks at Levi for some seconds. Then, he thunders his fingers, smiling.

"Yes! I knew it. I've seen this man before."

Without thinking twice, Mikasa grabs his left shoulder.

"You what?"

"Ouch! You are a beast!" He takes off her hand with a delicate gesture. "Yes. He was my neighbor long time ago. My mom told me once he worked for the CIA killing drug dealers, terrorists and even doing counterintelligence."

Mikasa gasps, her eyes as big as ever. Pulling him from his sweater, she pushes him against a hidden shelf out of Levi's sight.

"Where did she hear that?"

Armin opens and shuts his mouth, surprised by her curiosity.

"You told me you don't know him!"

"Long story, zero time. Answer, _now."_

The blonde boy refuses to look at her eyes.

"He had an older brother. He was murderer at the lake pier in a 'secret mission' like a decade or more ago."

Mikasa doubts.

"Really?"

Armin shrugs. Mikasa narrows her eyes.

"Do you know what the mission was about?"

"My mom said they were hunting the leaders of an international child trafficking organization, but everything went wrong because two kids were playing around at the moment and one of them received a gunshot. She said that the child was the son of one of the leaders."

Mikasa can't trust her ears.

"How did your mom find out about that information?"

He looks around and lowers his voice.

"Uncle Hannes works at the police station, remember?"

"Oh, yes, your uncle." She stares at Levi again, biting her lip. "Do you believe in that?"

Armin smiles nervously.

"Well, he really had a brother, but I don't think he died because of a 'secret mission' as my mom said. Sometimes my uncle is really charlatan."

Mikasa stays silent for a second.

"And what do you believe?"

Both of them secretly stare at the man. In that moment, Levi is drinking his tea.

"He fits in that kind of job, CIA… But… nah, it's just another lie of my uncle. By the way, there's something that is true: he has a lot of lovers, or at least he did."

It feels like a bucket of cold water over her.

"How do you know that?"

Armin flushes.

"I was a kid back then, but I was not blind. I saw a lot of beautiful women going out of his house very often." He is thoughtful for a moment, until his face lights up, recalling something. "There was this special girl, very cheerful and friendly. Her name was… Isabel Magnate? Magent? Mmmm… Oh, yes! Magnolia. Isabel Magnolia. She always made me laugh. Once, she gave me a lollipop and he was going out of the house, just behind me. He called me brat. He was right, though. I was a brat."

Mikasa nods slowly, smiling, but her mind is very far away from there.

Somehow, she remembers.

She was sitting at the edge of the pier, her tiny feet skimming the cold water. She was laughing, enjoying the sound of a voice.

A male voice.

"What was the name of his brother?"

"Furlan Church."

 _Furlan Church? Then, why did he tell me his name was Levi Ackerman?_

When she turns to see Levi again, he is gone.

 _You should've asked me._

* * *

Hiiii! Thanks once more for your feedback. Do you have any theory? Hope you like it :)

Remember, there's a playlist in my bio.

 **xx**

 **La que tals.**


	4. Chapter 4

**The Story of the Lake**

 **x**

 _ **I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin. I just wanted to fangirl for a second.**_

* * *

Four years ago, Mikasa saw her family being murderer in front of her. They took all they could, almost leaving an empty mansion. Bodyguards, servants, all killed. Men prepared to do the worst came and slaughtered everything on their way, not even a pinch of mercy in their souls.

She doesn't like to think about it, about how she was the only survivor. She doesn't like to think it was something bigger than just a brutal robbery, an assault that was way too intelligent to be done by simple thieves.

Otherwise, it would be admitting that her foster family was not good _at all._

Mikasa closes the door of her apartment with a furious kick of her left leg. Music comes from the next apartment, making the silence of her own house more depressing. However, her mind is focused in other thing. Without turning the lights on, Mikasa runs to her bedroom, in which her computer awaits for her.

 _He has scars in his hands, muscles, and he moves in a very carefully, tense way._

 _He's always been like that._

And that is the worst thing.

Once upon a time, he was part of her life. Somewhere, really deep in her lost thoughts, she can see herself walking at the edge of the lake, a shadow behind her, a shadow that _is not_ her shadow.

Mikasa growls and tightens her fists. Her head starts spinning, refusing to let her know _something._

She enters the internet server and sighs deeply, trying to calm down.

" _Man dies in police mission, Paradis Town"_

A lot of old news comes out, but nothing closer enough to what she is searching for. In her mind, an image of her appears and escapes from the cell that locks up her memories.

She is reading a children's book to _someone._

"What is this?" Whispers, her hands trembling.

Her eyes get wide. A memory comes, an avalanche of emotions…

 _"We are not going again, Eren! End of the story. Your sister almost died there… This is not happening, forget that place."_

Mikasa moans, holding her head. It feels like a bunch of tiny and horrible ants walking inside her head, itching and doing little, frightening sounds.

 _"Those men… Of course they wanted to catch us. Now she is severely injured. We shouldn't have gone on the first place."_

"No!" She screams, trying to focus her eyes in the screen in front of her, but it's impossible.

 _"She will not remember anything. Is better that way. She cannot know what we are, the family business must regain in the shadows for her."_

Mikasa feels her cheeks wet. Her brain explodes, memories clearing like the morning sun. She falls from the chair and shock tints her face like a perpetual scar. Her breathing is altered, her mouth opens, begging for air, but the tears doesn't let her do.

Her foster parents were bad people.

"I see, you remember."

In the middle of her inner hell, Mikasa turns and sees behind her. It is his voice what makes her heart stop, just as a red sign in a dark and solitary road.

Levi Ackerman is sitting at the edge of her bed. A _glock_ rests in his hands, his elbows lying in his knees. His black shoes are so perfectly polished that the screen of the computer is reflected on them. The muffler of the gun reminds her of the same one that silenced the bullets in Eren's chest.

Mikasa wipes the tears from her face, staring at him with an angry expression. She mentally sees herself like a miserable human in a dark corner, messy short hair and wet clothes thanks to the snow.

"You…" She says, her voice almost inaudible. "You were that men of the lake…"

He smiles, his left fingers caressing the barrel of the gun like a pet. Mikasa swallows, a little terrified sound going out of her mouth.

"Yes. This is yours. I found it inside the nightstand drawer." He lifts the glock up to watch it better. "Three years and ten months with you. You knew the death was coming for you…"

Mikasa wants to scream is not true.

She would be lying to herself.

Levi gazes her with an unknown expression in his face. She clearly sees how his fingers are clenched in the gun.

"You should've asked."

"I should." She answers slowly. "But I was afraid you were… you were the person they sent to kill me."

He lets her getting up, not doing a little move.

"Mikasa Jaeger, 22. Born from Eurasian parents and kidnapped at the age of 4 by human traffickers. Supposedly saved by Grisha and Carla Jaeger, leaders of the biggest human traffic organization in America and Europe. At the age of 12 a bullet grazed her head when she witnessed a CIA mission, in which Farlan Church, a secret agent, died trying to catch de Jaegers, that were in vacation at Paradis town. The mission failed and Mikasa Jaeger was not seen until she was 17, in a second-try mission that was held at the Jaeger Mansion. Because of unknown reasons, she was the only survivor. She was released after the police interrogations. Four months after her foster parents' deaths, Mikasa moved to Paradis town and started to practice hand-to-hand combat with Mike Zakarius, retired military. She bought her first gun at the age of 18 and a military knife at 20. She maintained a low profile all this time until the CIA demanded the whole annihilation of the Jaegers one year ago. Grisha Jaeger's siblings, uncles and cousins were neutralized, one by one. By now, there's only a girl left, Mikasa Jaeger."

The girl he is referring to is drowning in her own misery, just in front of him. Shock covers her beautiful face, tears fall as fast as the shake in her hands.

"So… So you went to the library…"

"To find you…" Levi points the gun to Mikasa's forehead, the emptiness in his eyes going through her like a deadly shiver. "And kill you."

His hands doesn't shake like hers, his chest is not going up and down as fast as hers. He is about to end her life and his calm stance spits her heart, laughs of all the days she dreamed with his lips caressing her skin in the middle of the night, the feeling of his arms embracing her body, the answers she hoped he was going to give her without asking.

"You were not… admiring the lake all this time…"

And the answer…

"No."

How fool she was, how fool she _is._

She forgot her promise in the sea of wondering that Levi is _right now_ in her thoughts.

Clenching her fists, Mikasa stands, Levi still pointing at her. She hides her face with her hair, but her rage is well perceived in the room.

"You used me, ten years ago. You used my innocence to get to my parents. You befriend me, knowing that I was going to fall." She breathes, a sad smile appearing with a whimper. "Is true… I may want to die, but I won't let you win my life that easily."

Levi smiles…

And shoots.

* * *

 _The next chapter is going to be the last one. If you didn't understand this one (I imagine you didn't :c) I will explain it better in the last one._

 _Thanks for the reviews! Remember there's a playlist in my bio for you._

 **xx**

 **La que tals.**


	5. Chapter 5

**The Story of the Lake**

 **x**

 _ **I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin. I just wanted to fangirl for a second.**_

* * *

"You must kill her."

"We've been seeing the truth all this time. She's not a risk for us. She only wants to protect herself."

"We know what happens when someone with this kind of cases 'wants to protect himself.' We've discussed this way too much. You are going to end this, and this is it."

Levi sees his boss exit the large room, an unreadable expression in his face covering the stress he is feeling.

He just needed one day to see her and change his mind.

Four years ago, when he finally killed her family, he curse himself for being weak, for not being able to murder the woman that once was an innocent, blind friend of his. Now she is a weapon, a potential danger to the organization.

So he went to the Town, remembering his older brother and the women that used to work with both of them. 'Their friends', Farlan called them. They are dead, the same with Farlan. He repeated that sentence again and again while he sat in the last table of the reading area, his back facing the wall, his eyes focused in the lake outside.

He thought he was not going to fail this time, he was not going to think twice to put a bullet in her head.

He thought wrong. He felt himself wicked in her apparently serene face. He delighted the boredom that books caused on her. He read the necessity of action in her callused hands, the light clothes she wore. She was locking herself in a lie, and he was there to kill the bloom of a plant that was thought to be withered. He created that belief a decade ago.

And now, after months of that reunion with his boss, after deciding he was going to do his will, the consequences of his weakness have him in this moment, with her in his arms in a dark room; _La Traviata_ coming from outside with its calmed melody, with the breath of the death getting closer to _her_ body.

Because, at the last second, he changed the direction of the bullet and shot her belly. She stood still, shock in her face. Then, a sad smile parted her lips. At this moment, Levi lost himself.

He drops the gun on the floor, jumps off the bed and takes her body before she falls. A dry moan comes out of Mikasa's mouth, but he's already doing all what he knows to make her life last longer.

"You are supposed to kill me." She murmurs, her cold hands grabbing the sleeves of his long jacket. "You have to go."

"No." He answers, and he sees how pitiful he's being with her.

"Why?" She gasps. A tear falls over her temple. "I'm a Jaeger..."

"No, you're not. You are way more than that. You almost died that day in the lake because of my fault, remember? I'll not let that happen again."

Both of them hear the sirens of an ambulance. Someone heard the shots.

"But still, you have a mission to fulfill..."

"I failed my mission."

"They're gonna get you... You have to run..."

Mikasa spits blood, a jeer smile in her mouth. He doesn't say a word. His eyes go back and forth in her wounded belly, thinking as fast as he can. The sirens getting closer...

An idea crosses his mind, but to carry it out he's to be honest first. With his thumbs, he cleans the blood covering the pale and soft skin of her face. He feels like a fool, remembering those nights when both of them walked together without speaking, a simple desire floating around him: to kiss her, kiss her hard and passionately, to let his mark in her soul, just like she did that night when he slaughtered his brother in front of her and the innocence ran of her eyes like angels running from the favorite creatures of God.

"I was the one in charge in that mission. Four years ago, I killed your family." He blinks, his eye bags being more obvious with the shadows of the room. "I'm sorry, not for killing them, but for hurting you in the process."

Mikasa's eyes get wider, but she doesn't free his sleeves. Determination covers her face.

"If I keep going to the past, I'll never know if there's something beautiful besides cruelty in this world." She smiles. "Even in this moment, I can't hate you for what you've done to me."

 _Because you made me forget..._

 _The same hell you caused in my life..._

 _You freed me…_

 _From a dark future…_

 _And you made me believe..._

 _In love through pure silence..._

He caresses her face, a strong emotion filtering through his grey eyes.

"Then, you just made your choice."

When the medics go into Mikasa's flat, they run through every room to find the person they are supposed to help. They look under the bed, inside the big cupboards and small closets, even in the bathtub, but they find no one.

Her room is empty, blood covering the floor. The place? Still empty.

One of the medics moves away and makes a call.

"He's not here, sir. Neither she."

A sigh comes from the other side.

 _"Thanks," Petra. Do as I said before and inform of any situation."_

"Yes, sir."

Petra hangs up the cellphone. She knows why he left.

He is going to recruit her.

* * *

 _Here is the last part of this story! Hope you liked it, I'll be waiting your opinions :D Thanks for reading :)_

 **xx**

 **La que tals.**


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